Theosis
by monicawoe
Summary: The hunters become the hunted, the tables are turned - Hell, Heaven, Purgatory and the power of souls. An AU set after 6x16 'And Then There Were None'
1. More

When Sam comes to, the world is tinged with red. He blinks once, twice and recognizes the circular wall of Bobby's panic room. He struggles to remember how he ended up in here again.

He remembers a hunt with Dean. They had been hunting a kelpie, of all things. Sam had slipped on the wet rocks along the water and landed on a jagged outcropping. His leg had gotten torn up, bad enough that he was under enforced bed-rest. They had brought him back to Bobby's to rest, and Bobby and Dean had gone back out to finish off the kelpie.

Sam looks at his leg and sure enough it's still bundled in bandages. Had they put him in here to keep him safe? He tries bringing his arms forward and finds that they are chained up and behind him- tethered to the wall.

He hears the panel on the iron door open.

"Oh look, he woke up." comes a familiar voice.

A second voice laughs, humorlessly.

Sam feels his dry, lower lip split as he speaks, "What...who...?"

The door opens and Tim walks in followed by Reggie, "Hey, Sam. How you feelin'?"

Sam lets his head fall back against the wall and remembers the last time he saw the two hunters in Garber, Oklahoma. They'd come to the bar he was working at and threatened Lindsey, the waitress, after their friend Steve had died. They had blamed Sam for Steve's death at the hands of a demon, and tried to force-feed Sam demon blood so he'd help them fight back.

Tim reaches above where Sam is sitting, and pulls on something - a tube. Something in Sam's arm twinges in response. Sam blinks again and can make out an IV line, running into his left arm. He strains to look to the right and sees a second line there.

Reggie walks over to Tim and hands him two blood bags. Tim hands Reggie back two empty bags, stained red.

"What...what is that?" Sam asks, but he already knows. He can taste the sulfur in the back of his throat, smell it oozing out of his pores.

"You have any idea how hard this was to get?" Reggie asks, leaning forward to look Sam right in the eyes. "It was worth it though. We can't just let you get away with this."

Sam looks at them in horrified disbelief, "With what?"

Tim kicks Sam in the stomach and spits on him, "With living, you piece of shit! Why can't you just stay dead!"

"Please, stop. You have no idea what you're doing. Just kill me, ok - but don't do this." Sam pleads.

Reggie kneels next to Sam, and says softly, right into his ear, "No. We're gonna bring the monster in you out to play first. We want everybody to see you for what you really are. There are sooo many hunters that want a piece of you Sam, you have no idea."

Sam sees Tim look at him in disgust, then he sees Tim's fist and then the world goes black.

* * *

><p>When he comes to again, he feels awful. Pain shoots through his body, every cell on fire. He looks up and though he's still chained to the wall, his arms have been lowered and the IV lines are gone. Sam clutches at his stomach as the withdrawal kicks into full gear.<p>

"There we go." He hears from outside the room. He lifts his head through the pain and can see Tim staring at him. "Wait another day. Maybe two." Then the panel slams shut again, and Sam is alone with only his hallucinations to keep him company.

* * *

><p>True to their word, Tim and Reggie don't do anything for two days. Sam is occupied with visions of Dean, his father, his mother, Ruby and Lucifer. They all have their own gems of wisdom to impart, and their own methods of inflicting pain.<p>

Lucifer is on Sam's side though. He's always been on Sam's side. He tells him that he should feast. He tells him Tim and Reggie are going to bring him offering after offering. He tells him that this room will be Sam's altar and that the sacrifices given here are given in exaltation of him.

Sam hears the door start to open and then slam shut again. "You idiot!" Tim yells. Don't go in there with it! He'll tear you to pieces."

"But then how-" _and is that Roy?_ Sam wonders. _It is_, he thinks. Then a moment later he hears Walt, "How the hell are we supposed to give it to him then?"

Tim groans. "Follow me."

Sam's hallucinations have ceased thanks to his confusion and that smell. Sam smells the sulfur and iron and his mouth waters and he'd hate himself for that but he is _far_ too far gone to care.

A few minutes later the grate in the ceiling of the panic room opens and a large, burlap sack drops into the room with him. The grate slams shut again.

Sam watches in wonder as the sack begins to twitch and then right itself. A man emerges and stares at Sam with black eyes.

* * *

><p>"Watch, watch." Reggie says, "He goes through 'em so quick -it's crazy."<p>

The group of hunters around him edge closer to the opening in the ground and peer down into the panic room. They watch Sam reach out his arm and pin two of the three demons they tossed down to him against the wall. The other one isn't as lucky. They hear the woman scream, as Sam latches onto her neck. It only takes him a few minutes before her empty corpse falls to the floor.

Sam turns and one of the two pinned demons falls off his place on the wall and lands at Sam's feet. "Please." They hear the demon say.

Sam falls on him as the third demon whimpers. The only other sound is the soft rattle of the broken chains still hanging from the cuffs attached to Sam's wrists.

Roy turns away from the hole and vomits.

* * *

><p>The panic room is an abbatoir.<p>

Sam sits in the center of the room surrounded by a dozen corpses. His eyes are closed, and his mind is calm. He smiles as he hears familiar footsteps all the way across the salvage yard. This is one of the things he secretly loves about the demon blood. His senses are all heightened. He can hear, he can see _everything_. He knows exactly where all the hunters are, and he knows that their time is up.

"Shit!" He hears from above him. Then he hears a gunshot, and Walt falls on the grate above him, dead. His blood drips onto Sam's face. Sam licks at the drops close to his mouth and stands up. He gestures at the door and it flies open. He walks out into the hall and heads up the stairs to greet Dean.

"SAMMY!" Dean yells.

Dean's gun fires once, twice and Tim and Reggie drop with a thud. Bobby has a gun pressed to Roy's temple and is walking him out the front door, when Sam enters the room.

Dean sees Sam and his expression is the strangest combination of relief and horror."Oh goddamnit Sam, what'd they do to you?" He walks closer and says, "Your eyes, Sam...oh god Sammy, your eyes..."


	2. Convection

Dean is transfixed by Sam's eyes and their wrongness, until he hears a loud _splat_ from outside and turns toward the door. When he turns back, Sam is gone.

"Bobby?" Dean gets out, and then runs to the door where Bobby is standing, dazed and bloodspattered. "What happened?"

Bobby wipes the blood from his cheek and takes his hat off. "I was trying to work up the nerve to shoot Roy. Putting a bullet through someone's head...ain't easy." Satisfied that his hat was spared most of the damage, Bobby puts it back on, "Then he just...exploded."

"What? How?" Dean asks.

"Did we get 'em all? Where's Sam?" Bobby wonders, looking around his home warily. Then he stops, scrunches his nose up and says, "Is that...fire.? Aw hell-" Bobby runs to the door leading to his basement where smoke is starting to pour out.

Dean grabs a bucket from under Bobby's kitchen sink, fills it and runs after him. He follows him down to the panic room and throws the water onto the fiery blaze. They both spend the next ten minutes coughing, running up the stairs and back down with more water. When they've drowned the flames, Dean sees the charred remains of bodies - the floor is covered by them. Dean turns to Bobby in horror, and can't think of a thing to say.

* * *

><p>Many bottles of whiskey later, Dean manages to speak again. "I need to find Sam."<p>

Bobby grunts in acknowledgement, and then clears his throat before continuing, "...and how are you gonna do that?"

"If he - " Dean picks up his half-empty glass and stares into it, "If Sam drank all those demons, then...I'm guessing he's on some kind of bender? I don't know, I mean even at his worst, his eyes never -"

"Never what?" Bobby asks, hesitantly.

"They've never been yellow before, Bobby. Before tonight, I only ever saw that in my nightmares..." Dean takes a long drink, "and in Hell."

"Well, what do you suppose that means? You think he's changed for good?"

"I don't know, I friggin' hope not. We've pulled each other back from the brink so many damn times, I can't just give up now!" Dean slams his glass down in frustration.

"Ok...so...where do we look?"

Dean walks over and grabs his laptop. "We look for omens."

* * *

><p>Meg walks towards the building slowly. It's an almost-finished office building. Nearly done, but unoccupied. The windows are still missing on most of the floors. The air smells like ozone, and when lightning strikes again, only a few feet away from where she is, Meg can see a glass section of the complex illuminated. It's off to the right of the building, and as she gets closer, she sees that it's an indoor pool. "Swanky" she smirks, and makes her way to the glass door.<p>

It's not until her feet have reached the edge of the pool that Meg starts to think coming here was a terrible idea.

* * *

><p>"Well, according to the weather map there's a huge storm system north of us. No rain, but tons of lightning and 50 mile per hour winds." Dean slams his laptop shut.<p>

"You think that's where he is?" Bobby asks.

"I think it's our only shot."

* * *

><p>The indoor pool hasn't been filled with water yet, and the large room itself is empty. No furnishings at all, just the pool, and a mirrored ceiling.<p>

When Meg looks up at the mirror she thinks -just for a second- that she's slipped back into the Pit.

There are bodies on top of bodies staring back at her - most of their faces frozen in expressions of pain or terror. A sea of black eyes and bloody limbs. Meg blinks and looks over the edge, into the pool.

"Oh, fuck..." she whispers as she's overcome with a sense of dread. She didn't come here because she was curious. She doesn't know why she came here. She didn't want to come here, but she did anyway, because she was _summoned_. Just like all these other poor bastards.

From the center of the pool, there's a laugh that brings Meg to her knees, instantly. The sound of it tears through her flesh like hooks and pulls at her insides. She cries out in pain and steadies herself with her hands.

**"Meg**."

The voice is everywhere, and it hurts - it hurts so badly she can't think.

Meg feels a sense of vertigo as she's flung up and up until she hits the mirrored ceiling. Her eyes open against her will and she's staring down into the face of Sam Winchester. He's lying in the center of the pool, on top of the pile of corpses. His eyes are closed, and he's smiling.

"S-Sam?" she says in confusion.

Sam opens his eyes and Meg gasps. Sam's eyes aren't white like Lilith's or yellow like Azazel's. They're some combination of the two. When he moves, even slightly, it looks like his eyes leave behind two trails of fire, like an after-image. Whether it's what she's really seeing, or whether she's just seeing things, it doesn't really matter...what matters is that he's looking at her. "Sam...what - what do you want?"

**"Want."** Sam says and the word slices a gash through Meg's torso and her blood spills. Sam lets her blood fall on his tongue and smiles.

"Do you want more demons, Sam? I-I can bring you more. Just let me go, and I-"

Sam laughs again and Meg's throat splits open, a fine red trickle running straight down.

**"They're drawn to me. You are all drawn to me. You're moths, and I'm a damn bonfire.**"

With the last word, the room lights up in a brilliant flash as flames rise up all around Sam. The fire surrounds him, laps at him like water, but he remains untouched.

"Sam," Meg gets out, her meatsuit's vocal chords are still working, "Hell is yours! You defeated Lucifer, all you have to do is ask."

**"Lucifer. Do you know why Lucifer made you, Meg?**"

Meg's ears have started bleeding, but this - she wants to know, "Me? Lucifer talked to you about me?"

Sam's laugh splinters the mirror.

Meg's borrowed body is starting to fall apart. The flames have begun to lick at her toes.

Sam seems to want her to hear this story though, so he stops using words and continues in thoughts.

_Demons are all the same to him. He made them as an affront to God, and he made them so I could exist. So I could be his perfect vessel. Part of Lucifer's punishment was that he could never take a human vessel. His corruption would corrupt them. Lucifer made you, so you could make me suitable for him. So I could contain him, forever. And I can. But where's the fun in that?_

"So the blood...you don't need it, do you?"

_Not anymore. Not for a while now. Lucifer taught me so much during our time together, but I'd forgotten..._

"Then why did you kill all these demons, all these host bodies?"

_I was thirsty. And I didn't kill them. They're all still here, I just locked them in._

Meg can't see anymore, but she doesn't have to.

**"Time to go home.**"

Sam reaches his hand up and pulls it back towards himself in a fist. The burning earth below him crumbles away and they all fall down and down and down.


	3. Inferno

Dean doesn't remember running to the edge of the crater. He doesn't even remember leaving the car- or driving here, for that matter. All he knows is that the omens they followed led them here.

Dean's only thought the whole drive up had been - whatever shape Sam's in, we'll deal with it. It hadn't occurred to Dean that Sam wouldn't be here.

"What in the Hell?" Bobby says from behind him. Dean looks up and sees what Bobby sees. Above them, heading right for them is a huge swirling mass of black demon smoke. They hadn't noticed it at first because there were such heavy storm clouds. Now that he's looking straight up at it though, he can see the black shot through with purple electricity.

The smoke is moving down towards them, and just as Dean's brain tells him he should be moving out of the way, the demon-cloud goes right past him and disappears in the middle of the crater. Dean and Bobby watch the cloud go past for several minutes before Bobby says again, "What in the _Hell_!"

* * *

><p>Hell is a far more accomodating place than most people realize. Souls go there to be tortured, and they are. When the torture needs to be physical, it is. When the torture needs to be spiritual, it is. Hell makes itself whatever it needs to be. When Sam comes crashing down and plummets towards the very heart of Hell, Hell does its best to please its new Ruler.<p>

The demons Sam brought with him are stripped of their host bodies. The souls of the humans they'd possessed have long since been sent on their own paths. Their flesh burns on the way down. Human bodies aren't made for Hell. Sam's is though. Sam's body stays impossibly intact. This fact alone makes him unique.

Hell reaches out and guides Sam gently down the rest of the way. He lands directly beneath the part of Hell he knows best, Lucifer's Cage. The Cage isn't visible, but Sam wants it to be - and Hell does what Sam wants. He looks up and is filled with an almost childlike giddiness as Hell reveals the Cage to him.

Time in Hell moves faster than on Earth. Time in the Cage moves faster still. This is a particularly brilliant form of torture for the angels, Sam thinks as he watches them flit around like two overgrown fireflies.

The nature of the Cage had given Sam a very, very long time with Lucifer. His soul may have been gone for a year and a half, but in the Cage...he'd had eons. Lucifer had tortured Sam, yes, but he'd also taught him so much - and he'd taught him so _well_.

Sam looks up at the Cage and concentrates. **"See me." ** He smirks as the angels stop moving and press themselves against the now transparent wall. Sam sees Lucifer's light flare magnificently in his fury. "**Hello again. Hope you don't mind if I redecorate a bit.**"

Sam's throne forms itself out of bone. It rises up and up until it's the same height as the Cage. As Sam leans back and watches Lucifer and Michael resume their fighting, the throne places a circlet of bone on his head.

* * *

><p>Dean and Bobby are still staring at the demon-smoke streaming down into the ground when Castiel appears behind them and announces,"It's working."<p>

"Cas? You wanna explain what's going on?" Dean asks, standing and turning to face the angel.

"The demons- all of them are returning to Hell." Castiel answers, looking skyward at the last of the black cloud.

"Because...?" Bobby asks, moving to stand next to Dean.

Castiel looks down, "Because Sam called them home."

Dean takes a second as he feels his brain restart, "Cas. What the Hell are you talking about?" he steps closer and tries to catch Castiel's gaze, but the angel won't meet his eyes. "Did you - did you know about what those hunters were doing to Sam? See...I figured you were too busy with your war to come help him, but now it kinda sounds to me like you knew this was going to happen!"

"Dean. This war isn't just being fought on one front. My brothers and sisters are being slaughtered by Raphael's forces. Heaven is in chaos. Demons know this. They aren't afraid of us anymore. They attack us anytime we set foot on Earth. Since Eve's return, Purgatory's forces are attacking us. I have seen too many futures where Heaven falls. What Sam is doing now - this is what saves us." With his last words, Castiel looks at Dean.

Dean turns his back on Castiel, "Get the Hell away from me Cas."

"Dean-" Castiel touches Dean's shoulder.

"Get your hand off of me, and leave." Dean growls.

Castiel disappears and Bobby says softly,"We'll figure out something Dean."

* * *

><p>Sam hadn't realized the extent of his brilliance at revealing the Cage until the first group of demons approach.<p>

Lucifer and Michael, in their natural state, are a pleasing soft light to Sam, but to the demons they're painful. The demons want to be near Sam, but have to look down to avoid the angelic light. They prostrate themselves because they have no other choice. Some of the weaker ones - eager to please, but stupid - start to smolder when they get too close. Sam chuckles and lets the walls of the Cage become opaque again.

It takes time for all the demons in Hell to respond to his summons. They all feel his call, but Hell is so very vast.

When Sam sees all of them assembled around him, he stands and speaks.  
><strong><br>"Welcome home.**"

Like a shockwave, all the demons who had still been standing fall to their knees. Sam's voice pulls on their insides and their attention is wholly focused on their King.

_I have a job for you. For all of you. You're going to return to Earth, but you're not going to possess any humans. Any of you who do will cease to exist._

_You will however possess everything else. Monsters. Werewolves, vampires, shifters, and everything in between. Every human that becomes a monster is one less soul for us, and one more for Purgatory. That ends now._

Sam looks down at his legions and smiles.

_I'm going to teach you all some new tricks._


	4. Equo Ne Credite

"Come again?" Dean says.

Bobby sits down across from Dean at the kitchen table. "This is the fifth call now. Every one of 'em said the same thing. Monsters fighting monsters. Vampires turning on werewolves. Ghouls killing revenants. Rugarus eating nixies."

"Nixies are toxic."

"Oh yeah, they still are. The rugarus all died after." Bobby opens his beer and stares at it pensively. "This don't make a lick of sense."

"Dean." Castiel's voice comes from behind them.

Without turning around, Dean answers, "Cas. I'm pretty sure I told you to fuck off."

"I need you to come with me Dean." Castiel walks into the kitchen and stands next to the table.

Dean eyes Castiel's trenchcoat angrily, but doesn't answer.

"Why and where?" Bobby asks for him.

"To see Sam. I think- this is his doing." Castiel says, staring at Dean.

"What's his doing...this monster smackdown?" Bobby scoffs.

"Yes. I don't entirely understand it myself, but it has to be Sam. I need to see him, but he won't see me."

Dean stands up and answers, "What does that matter, you can just bust into Hell, can't you?"

"I can, but Sam has...locked the entrance to the throne room. I have spent hours pounding on the door, so to speak, but he won't let me in. I believe if you went with me, he would grant us an audience." Castiel sounds equally embarrassed and exacerbated.

Bobby finishes the long drink of beer he'd been taking, "_Throne_ room?"

Dean shakes his head, "Cas, I haven't seen him since he left here. It's been months. I think if he wanted to see me, he would have by now."

"Please come with me Dean. I know you're angry with me. You have every right to be, but please - I need to understand why Sam is doing this. If I'm wrong about him, if he isn't helping us, then..." Castiel turns away from Dean and stares out the window.

"Then what?" Dean growls.

Castiel sighs, "We need Sam's help."

Dean looks at Bobby, then back up to Castiel and nods.

* * *

><p>When Dean can see again, he is standing (or at least his soul is standing) in an enormous room. The walls, if there are even any, are covered in a thick, black fog. In the center of the room is a set of stairs leading up to a massive throne carved entirely out of bone. There is a really bright light coming from above, but Dean can't get a good look at it. <em>What is that, some kind of Hell chandelier?<em>

Castiel walks slowly forward toward the throne, and looks up at the light.

"Dean! Cas! What a surprise!" Sam says from right behind Dean.

Dean whips around and stares. "Sam." He swallows as he sees Sam's eyes. They're different, _worse_, than they were last time he saw them. Not just yellow anymore, but yellow, white and nearly too bright to look at. On Sam's head is a crown - a _bone_ crown.

"Do you like my aquarium?" Sam asks Castiel who is still staring up at the light.

Castiel turns to glare at Sam. "Michael and Lucifer are many things, but they are not fish."

Sam laughs loudly and claps his hands together. "Well, to me they are. They're domesticated, and very relaxing to look at. Just like fish in an _aquarium_"

"What's with the fog of doom, Sam?" Dean asks.

Sam looks back over his shoulder and says, "**Make yourselves presentable.**"

All around them - pressed against the walls of the room - the fog shimmers as hundreds of demons form themselves into humanoid shapes. Not human though, not even close.

These are demons in their true form. Things that may have started off human, but have long since forgotten what that means. They're deformed by their sins, some of which manifest in a rather literal sense. Those consumed by greed have huge gaping mouths and giant hands to match their insatiable appetites. The wrathful are more animalistic than human, all teeth and claws.

Dean takes a step back as he sees something horribly familiar huddling in the far corner. "Is that...is that a Hellhound, Sam?"

Sam puts his hand on Dean's shoulder. "Oh don't worry Dean. That's just Meg." Sam takes a few steps forward and whistles, "Come here Meg. Come on. Dean wants to say hi."

The Hellhound turns slowly and trudges towards them, belly to the ground, tail tucked between its legs.

"Meg?" Castiel repeats in confusion. "You turned her into a Hellhound?"

"Yup." Sam says as Meg lies at his feet. "Then I had her kill all the others. She's the only Hellhound left." He looks at Dean. "I know, I know. You think I let her off way too easy, right? You can't tell - she's used to it by now, I guess, but - every time I speak it tears her insides to shreds. And that hurts, doesn't it Meg?" Sam moves to pat the Hellhound on its head and it whines miserably. "Yes it does, yes it does!" Sam croons.

Dean thinks he might puke.

"Sam. Are you responsible for the monsters turning against each other?" Castiel asks.

Sam raises an eyebrow and smirks, "Yes."

"How?" Dean asks as he watches Meg return to her corner.

"Possession." Castiel says.

Sam nods and heads toward his throne. He takes a seat on the third step up and leans back.

"But...the monsters are killing each other. Their souls are just returning to Purgatory, and none of my soldiers have seen any demons leaving the bodies of the monsters - so I assume they're being killed too. You're not reducing the size of their army - Eve can just bring them back! What is the point of this?" Castiel asks angrily.

"It's a Trojan horse." Dean says, "The demons are riding the monsters' souls right into Purgatory, aren't they?"

Sam smiles at him. "Exactly."


	5. Purgatorio

"Why are you sending your demons into Purgatory?" Castiel asks.

Sam looks at the angel coolly, "Go back to Heaven, Castiel. I'll handle Eve and her children."

"I am grateful for your help, Sam, but I need to know your plans. Are you trying to bring Purgatory down from within?" Castiel steps closer to the throne.

"I'd like to talk to my brother. Alone. It was nice to see you again, Cas." Sam nods to Castiel in a clear gesture of dismissal.

Castiel doesn't move. "I won't leave until you tell me your plans, Sam."

Sam's eyes flare brightly and the air feels heavy, "**Leave now, ****_angel_****, before I throw you to my fish.**"

Dean clears his throat, "Cas - uh, look, I'd really like to talk to Sam about some things too. We have some catching up to do."

Castiel glances at Dean worriedly, then back at Sam, and disappears.

"**Leave us.**" Sam announces. One wall of the throne room opens in the shape of a massive doorway. The demons huddled against the walls flee.

Sam walks back down the stairs to Dean. He sighs heavily, and closes his eyes. When he opens them again, they're hazel and human.

"Take a load off." Sam says, and falls back onto the ordinary, worn couch that Dean _knows_ wasn't there a second ago. Dean sits down next to him, gingerly.

Dean instinctively accepts the beer bottle Sam hands him, opens it and takes a drink. Leaning back against the eerily comfy couch, he says, "I'm sitting on a couch...in my brother's throne room, in _Hell_..." He eyes the bottle he's holding and raises his eyebrows, "- drinking Löwenbräu."

Sam chuckles and it sounds absurdly normal. "Would you rather have a Guinness?"

Dean shakes his head, "Sam...I don't even know where to start." He starts peeling the label off of his bottle, contemplating how Sam got this beer in the first place. _Did he will it out of a supermarket and down to Hell? Did he make it out of thin air? How did he get it so cold? _Dean takes another sip and decides it doesn't really matter.

Sam looks over to Dean. "I'm going to tear down the border between Purgatory and Hell."

"Okay...how are you going to do that?" Dean asks, still focusing on his beer bottle.

Sam takes another drink from his beer, "Remember Famine?"

Dean scoffs, "Wish I didn't."

"I'm going to pull the demons I sent to Purgatory back here all at once. It'll tear a rift between the two dimensions."

"So...you're adding an extension? Like what Crowley was saying...for more real estate?" Dean asks incredulously.

Sam laughs, "No. Crowley didn't explain it well - or he didn't completely understand the mechanics of Hell." Sam gets up and stretches his arms behind his back, like he's working out a kink in his muscles. "Hell is its own dimension. Hell is infinite. There are billions of souls here, and we could house billions more with no problem. Heaven is the same. So is Purgatory. "

Sam sits back down next to Dean and starts sketching on a notepad. Dean blinks, wondering how he could have missed that too appearing out of nowhere.

Sam draws four circles. "This isn't about space." He labels the circle in the middle _Earth_ and the three surrounding it, _Hell, Purgatory_ and _Matrix_. Then he draws three arrows leading from the center circle out to the other three. "Right now, there are three possible routes a human soul can take." Sam writes _monster_ on the arrow leading from _Earth_ to _Purgatory_ "If they are born a monster or become one during the course of their life on Earth, they go to Purgatory. " Sam draws an oval around both _Hell_ and _Purgatory_ and labels it _Hell 2.0_. "After I make the rift, this -" he moves his pen around the oval he's drawn, "- will all be one."

Dean mutters under his breath,"...such a dork."

"What?"

"Dude, you're the dark overlord, and you're gonna name your kingdom 'Hell 2.0'?"

Sam grins, "What would you name it?"

"I don't know, but it wouldn't have a damn number in it."

"I was just illustrating. I'm not renaming anything." Sam puts down his pen, and picks up his beer, which Dean notices is still full - or full again.

"So...why are you telling me all this? Aren't you worried I'll tell Cas?" Dean asks.

"Tell him. It doesn't matter."

"But then why did you...I mean, I get it, okay? That was a dick move on his part. He could've stopped those hunters."

"Castiel has done things..." Sam takes a moment before continuing, "-things you don't know about, things I almost wish I didn't know about. "

"Such as...?"

Sam leans back against the couch, but doesn't answer.

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because it's irrelevant now. I'll handle things down here, Castiel will take care of his civil war, and you can go back to your life. " Sam closes his eyes.

"And...my life is what exactly? Hunting? Hanging out with Bobby?" Dean looks at Sam, "Are you just gonna stay here? Forever?"

Sam whispers, "_Go home_."

* * *

><p>Dean wakes up on Bobby's couch. His head is throbbing and he groans.<p>

"Back already?" Bobby says, walking in from the kitchen, "That was fast."

"Dean," Castiel appears next to them, "did Sam tell you what he's planning?"

Dean rubs his temples. "Yeah. Give me a minute, Cas. "

* * *

><p>Sam sits on Hell's throne and looks at Lucifer and Michael. They're both watching him again, like they know what he's about to do.<p>

"What do you think, guys? Am I gonna make it?" Sam laughs as Lucifer rages through the Cage wall. _Well, at least you believe in me._

Eyes closed, Sam breathes in and out. He reaches out with his mind for demons, for _all_ demons, and calls them back.

* * *

><p>"Can he really do that, Cas?" Dean asks.<p>

"Sam has all of Hell at his disposal. He can draw on everything that dwells there to augment his power. It is conceivable he can do what he says." Castiel nods to Dean with his last few words.

"So then, better question...why didn't Crowley do this? I mean he was all gung-ho about Purgatory, looking for a door- why didn't he just make a rift himself?" Dean says, and from his desk Bobby grunts in agreement.

"Crowley may have named himself king, but Hell didn't crown him. Hell embraced Sam. He's the first crowned king Hell has had since Lucifer." Castiel says quietly.

"Wait so, even Azazel-" Bobby starts.

"Demons are the denizens of Hell, but they can never rule it. Hell was created by Lucifer, by his Fall. Hell recognizes Sam because he was bred and born to rule it." Dean scoffs at this, but Castiel continues, "Sam was made to house Lucifer, and all the power of Hell. It doesn't matter that Lucifer himself is trapped and furious, he declared Sam his counterpart, his _heir_. Sam is Hell's chosen vessel."

"I hate that word." Dean grumbles.

"Dean, I need you to understand what I just said. Sam can hold _all_ the power Hell contains." Castiel stares intently at Dean, waiting for his response.

"You mean - oh crap, you mean the Cage, don't you?" Dean says with dawning horror.

"Sam isn't the only vessel." Castiel says carefully.

"Cas, I'm not going to fight Sam for Hell." Dean snaps.

"I was not referring to Hell."


	6. Paradiso

"Cas. What the _hell_ are you trying to say? I don't speak cryptic." Dean all but yells.

"Hmm...Sounds like a recruitment speech to me." Raphael says from next to Bobby's desk.

Bobby jumps out of his chair, knocking it over in the process. "Who the hell are you?"

Raphael smiles as she reveals her wings of lightning, and the temperature in the room plummets.

Castiel walks to her, slowly, "Raphael, why have you come? You know what I can do to you. Are you so eager to die?"

"You know Castiel, you keep threatening me with Heaven's arsenal, but I haven't seen any evidence of any of the weapons being used _anywhere_ in _months_. I'm starting to think you lost them." Raphael smirks.

Castiel swallows, "You're mistaken."

"The little bird is lying," Eve says from the kitchen.

"Doesn't anybody friggin' knock anymore?" Dean yells.

Eve walks over to Raphael, slings her arm over her shoulder and whispers.

Bobby moves to stand next to Dean by the couch and mutters under his breath, _"Shouldn't we make a sigil or something?"_

Dean blinks and mutters back, _"Workin' on it..."_

Castiel stares from Raphael to Eve and back, "Are you...are you allying yourself with this _creature_, Raphael?"

Raphael laughs, "That's pretty funny, coming from you."

Eve circles Castiel and says, "We have similar interests."

"The enemy of my enemy, and all that." Raphael shakes her head, "Let me spell it out for you, brother. You know what I want. Lucifer and Michael are both trapped in the Cage. All I need to do is crack it open, and we'll be back on track."

Castiel tilts his head in confusion, "What are you talking about? You can't open the Cage...and Sam-"

"Sam said 'Yes'. If Lucifer is freed, that still holds. You think he can fight off the Morningstar twice in one lifetime?" Raphael taunts.

"And Michael? Will you raise Adam again? " Castiel asks.

"We won't have to." Raphael chuckles, and from behind him Castiel hears Bobby yell "No!"

Castiel whips around, but Eve and Dean are both gone.

* * *

><p>Dean struggles in Eve's hold, and then stops only because he's too confused to keep going.<p>

They are standing on a large slab of rock in the middle of a river of lava. Directly in front of them, and reaching up as high as he can see is a thick wall of inky black. Dean stares at it and can't figure out for a moment what it is exactly that's so unsettling about the wall - and then it moves. There's a slight undulating shift in several places at once and Dean realizes it's alive.

"Where are we?" he says, despite himself.

"This is all that's left of my home." Eve says, and Dean thinks he hears genuine sorrow there.

From behind them comes a growling noise and Dean turns around. A few dozen feet away, there are two people fighting. _No, not people..._ - the rugaru and arachne are clutching at each other. Dean watches in fascinated horror as the black wall - which must be circular - closes in on the fighting monsters. The arachne screams - an inhuman, piercing sound that makes Dean wish he could cover his ears. The wall is _reaching _for her and as it touches her, her body is stretched, legs pulled impossibly long. Both of her legs split right down the middle, the skin, muscle, bone and sinew all tearing apart. Her arms stretch forward, splinter and elongate. Her head retracts and suddenly Dean is looking at an enormous spider.

The spider turns and crawls into the wall. The rugaru lunges after her and as soon as he touches the wall Dean can see the lower half of an over-sized worm wriggling through the black.

"What the _Hell_ is happening?" Dean chokes out, as Eve tightens her hold on him.

The wall ripples as it answers, **"My kingdom. My rules."**

And he _knows_ that voice. "Sam?" Dean whispers.

"Human bodies can't survive Hell- not unless they're occupied vessels. Or _you_." Eve snarls, "Your kingdom. Your rules." She steps forward, leaning on Dean until the left side of his face and half of his body are pressed against the black. "How good do you think his chances are, Sam? Do you honestly think his soul can make it through intact?"

Dean screams in agony as he feels fire, _hellfire_, crawl over his skin everywhere he's touching what he now realizes is one giant mass of demon-smoke. Eve yanks him back and throws him unceremoniously behind her. Dean sees a brilliant white flash, feels a shock-wave of ice cold, and loses consciousness.

The wall ripples once more and then parts, pulling itself back. Where it retreats, there is a tear in reality - an odd flickering distortion at the border of the two dimensions merging.

* * *

><p>Bobby has given up on asking the angels to take their argument elsewhere and has resigned himself to being an unwilling audience of one. He pours himself a glass of whiskey and watches them from the relative safety of his kitchen table.<p>

"Where are the weapons?" Raphael asks again.

"What you're doing is only going to make things worse. Our Apocalypse will not happen. It can't." Castiel says wearily.

"What makes you so sure...what are you hiding?" Raphael steps forward and looks into Castiel's eyes.

Castiel steps back and raises his hands up, gesturing, "Raphael, think for a moment. Every soul in Hell makes Sam stronger. What do you think is going to happen when Hell consumes Purgatory?"

Raphael laughs, "Sam will self-destruct. He'll lash out and kill anything around him and he'll break the Cage in the process. Lucifer will be free to reclaim his vessel, and Dean will accept Michael. "

"You're insane."

"Am I?" Raphael asks.

"Well," Bobby chuckles, "you sure as shit don't know Dean very well." The angels both turn and stare at him, and he adds, "Or Sam, for that matter." Bobby takes another drink.

* * *

><p>Dean jerks awake and finds himself hanging from something, and blinded. He sees after-images in his eyes of millions of stars and blinks to try to chase them away. There is a muted glow behind him, so he can just make out his hands, but can't see any further.<p>

Suddenly, he feels himself being lowered, though he still can't see by what. He's surrounded by darkness, and it is absolute. Until it isn't.

Dean sees two pinpricks of light, and he watches them get brighter and brighter until he can finally see where he is.

Shortly thereafter, he wishes he couldn't.

The void around him parts like the Red Sea. The blackness pulls further and further back and away from him until Dean recognizes where he is. He sits, and looks up and up until he sees Sam on his throne with two massive wings made of demon-smoke. Sam stands up, and the wings unfold themselves, taking up the entire back wall of the room.

As Sam walks down the stairs, the smoke separates and solidifies as countless demons reform themselves and run, fly and crawl away as fast as they can.

Dean stands up to meet Sam, but Sam walks right past him, and over to Eve, who lies sprawled out on the ground, a few steps away from the foot of Sam's throne. She is lying partly on the last piece of her rapidly shrinking world - a small part of the rock slab she first brought Dean to.

Dean does a double take as he notices that Eve looks...different. Her head and arms still look human, but her lower half is serpentine. That's not what's bothering Dean though. He's seen so much weird today that a half-woman half-snake doesn't really phase him. What bothers him is that he _knows_ it's Eve. With certainty, and a clarity he hasn't ever known before.

Sam walks up to Eve, who tries to raise herself up on her forearms. Before she's gotten her head even an inch off the ground, Sam steps on her throat and snaps her neck.


	7. Theosis

Sam looks down at Eve's corpse and then uses his foot to roll her over, revealing the last tiny piece of Purgatory.

Dean walks up next to Sam and sees the circle of rock get smaller and smaller.

"It's Michael's grace." Sam says.

Dean stares at Sam, "What is?"

"I gave you Michael's grace so you could survive this. That's why you feel different."

"You...b-but I didn't say yes!" Dean sputters.

Sam kneels down next to the small circle of Purgatory, "Relax, it's not Michael inside of you, just his grace."

Dean looks over his shoulder towards Sam's throne. The Cage looks dark. "I don't - Sam, damnit, I don't want _any_ of Michael inside of me!"

Sam lets out a soft hiss, and Dean sees that Sam has his hand on the ground. The rift is covered entirely by his palm.

Castiel grabs Dean by the shoulder, "Dean we have to get out of here, now!"

Raphael chuckles from next to Sam's throne, "Showtime."

There is an audible _snap_ as the last speck of Purgatory is devoured. The only warning Dean and Castiel get is a low, moaning noise from Sam, and then they are both flung violently backwards.

Sam is lying on the ground, on his side, writhing in agony and ecstasy as all the power of Purgatory flows into him. His eyes are clenched shut, and he is too preoccupied to notice any of the destruction he's causing. The air in his throne room is thick with energy, charged and indiscriminate. The throne changes, the bone structure of it glowing and shifting into a new configuration.

* * *

><p>On the far side of the room, Castiel approaches Dean again, "Dean, please come with me. We need to leave before Sam -"<p>

"No. I'm not going anywhere Cas. You think I'm just gonna leave Sam like this?" Dean snaps.

"It isn't Sam you should be worrying about. He'll be fine. Just - come with me." Castiel pleads.

"What part of 'no' do you not get?" Dean stops, and stares at Castiel. "Did you just...what did you just say about weapons?"

"I didn't say anything about the weapons, Dean"

* * *

><p>The Cage trembles and then quakes violently as Sam sits up, throws his head back and <em>roars<em>.

Raphael walks over to the Cage and looks up expectantly. She grins as a shimmering body falls out of the crack running along the bottom of the Cage. She puts her arms out and catches it. At first, she is confused, because what falls into her arms doesn't feel like an angel. It's a beautiful but fragile thing, and entirely hollow. Its limbs look crystalline and graceful, but it strikes Raphael as a cruel mockery of divinity. There is no grace - not a trace of power. It opens its eyes, and Raphael gasps, "Lucifer!"

Lucifer blinks slowly and smiles, "Raphael, it's been a long time."

Raphael swallows, "What is this? What happened?"

Lucifer tries to answer but instead he coughs and to Raphael it sounds horrifically, undeniably _mortal_.

* * *

><p>Castiel takes a step back, "Dean, I didn't say anything."<p>

"No, you didn't. But I heard you anyway." Dean moves forward a step and locks his eyes with Castiel's. "You said - you _thought_- 'I have to find the weapons and get them out of here before Sam destroys those too.' So, would you care to explain what exactly that means?"

"I had to hide the weapons where Raphael couldn't get to them. I - I had an agreement, to keep them here."

"An agreement? With whom?" Dean growls.

Castiel swallows, "With Crowley, and then with Meg after Crowley was...uncooperative. But...then Sam took over and he won't let me near them, and I _need_ them, Dean. If I don't get them back, Heaven will fall."

Dean closes his eyes, nods once, looks at Castiel and punches him in the jaw, hard.

* * *

><p>Raphael lays Lucifer down gently and says, "It will be all right soon. After Sam's done with his little tantrum, I'll bring you to him. I'll be right back." Lucifer curls up and whispers something, but Raphael can't hear him.<p>

Raphael goes back to stand under the Cage, which has opened wider, and catches the next body that falls out. It is not Michael, as she was hoping, but Adam, the Winchesters' half-brother. He is blessedly unconscious. She groans and drops him. Pulling out her sword she says, "Sorry, but we certainly don't need you anymore. The only way this works out in our favor is if Michael has his _true_ vessel." Raphael brings her blade down and stabs Adam in the heart.

Adam gasps and his eyes flare a brilliant white before extinguishing. Two large wings of ash appear on the ground and Raphael recoils in horror.

Lucifer lifts himself up on one arm, sees them and screams, "Michael!"

* * *

><p>Castiel and Dean fight furiously. Dean staggers back as he feels his connection to Michael permanently severed. He hadn't even realized he'd had one until it vanished. Castiel grabs hold of Dean, sensing his momentary upper-hand and says, "We're leaving."<p>

* * *

><p>Raphael runs to Lucifer's side and kneels next to him. "I don't understand! I sensed nothing of Michael - I only wanted to kill the boy!"<p>

Lucifer looks at Raphael and _tells_ her everything. She sees inside the Cage. _Sees Lucifer as his grace is ripped violently from him by Sam. In the split second it takes Sam to take Michael's grace too, Lucifer and Michael have minutes. Lucifer, in a panic, tells Michael to hide inside Adam. Maybe he'll be safer there. He isn't._

Raphael is crying. It isn't something she's done very often. She thinks the last time she cried was when Lucifer fell.

Lucifer, weak as he is, speaks again, "He _forgave_ me. After all this time, Michael...and you, you _took_ him from me. You killed my brother!"

"It was an accident, Lucifer, I didn't-" Raphael forgets how to speak when she sees Sam, rising to his feet, wavering only slightly, as he walks towards them.

Lucifer sees Sam and makes a hysterical noise somewhere between crying and laughing. Sam stops next to them and looks at Lucifer. Lucifer can feel what's left of him start to disintegrate. He feels an odd sense of peace, looks back at Sam - at his eyes _white, yellow, fire_, and as he sees Sam turn towards Raphael, Lucifer begs Sam, "Make it hurt."

Sam looks at Raphael, and she begins to bleed - from her eyes, from her mouth and from the cut that makes its way slowly across her throat. Sam eyes her hungrily.

* * *

><p>Castiel has Dean trapped in some form of holding pattern. Dean's not clear on how he's doing it, but he's keeping Castiel from taking them away - just barely. They both lose their concentration when they hear Raphael start to scream, and Dean - in desperation, yells, "SAM! Help!"<p>

Sam appears next to them, licking angel blood from his thumb like it's honey.

He turns to Castiel and smiles.


	8. Apotheosis

Castiel lets go of Dean and backs away from Sam.

As Sam stares at Castiel, the right side of the angel's face begins to split open - a fine line of red trickling down his cheek.

"Sam, stop!" Dean says, reaching for Sam's wrist. He immediately pulls his hand back, shaking it out. Touching Sam feels like touching a live wire.

Sam reaches out one long finger and wipes the blood from Castiel's cheek.

Castiel swallows, nervously.

"The word you're looking for is 'thanks,' Cas." Sam says. He sucks the blood off his finger, his eyes closing for a moment in contentment.

"_Thanks_..." Castiel repeats. "You killed three of my brethren, and you want me to thank you?"

Sam narrows his eyes, "I took out your opposition's leader. You should be grateful. I just helped you win your war."

"This war cannot be won so easily, Sam. Raphael's followers will not simply stop because they've lost their general. I need the weapons." Castiel glances at Dean quickly and then looks back to Sam, "Please, Sam."

Sam nods, "Ok. You can pick any two."

"Two..." Castiel says in confusion. "There are over a thousand weapons in Heaven's arsenal."

Sam nods, "Mmhm. And you get two. One for Lucifer and one for Raphael."

Dean raises his eyebrows, and Castiel looks dumbfounded.

"What about Michael?" Castiel asks bitterly.

"I didn't get to kill Michael. Raphael killed Michael. That doesn't count." Sam leans forward and whispers into Castiel's ear, "I'll give you one weapon for every angel you bring me."

Castiel looks at Sam in disgust, "I'm not going to _bring_ you any of my soldiers!"

Sam laughs, "I don't care if they're yours, or Raphael's, or Balthazar's drinking buddies, but you _will_ bring them to me." Sam turns his back on Castiel, and heads for his throne, "Or you won't, and your weapons will stay right here."

"Sam!" Castiel yells, "Why? Why do you want - angels?"

Sam stops, halfway up the steps, and says, "Because I _broke_ my aquarium and I need new _fish_".

Castiel moves towards Sam and the ground begins to tremble.

Sam takes his place on the throne and looks down at them "Choose your weapons, Cas, or I'll choose them for you. You have five minutes left." Sam's eyes glow brighter than ever. Castiel's eyes begin to bleed.

"Two weapons...that's a pretty good deal, Cas." Dean says, putting his hand on Castiel's shoulder in an attempt to turn him away from Sam's gaze. "Why don't you let me talk to Sam for a bit, and think about it, okay?"

Dean turns Castiel away from Sam and leaves him facing the wall.

Dean walks towards Sam's throne. "Sam. You're not gonna make me climb up all those steps, are you?"

Sam looks down to Dean and answers without speaking, _No._

"Okay then..." Dean says after it becomes clear Sam has no intention of leaving his seat, "Why won't you just - give Cas the weapons back? It's not like you need _more_ firepower. So why keep them from him? He says he needs those weapons to stop the war."

_You're the only one that matters._

Dean snorts, "Well that's real sweet of you Sam, but-"

_You're the only __**weapon**__ that matters._

"Excuse me?"

Sam smirks, _You can be to Heaven what I am to Hell._

Dean gapes.

_Castiel is going to do everything he can to make sure that happens._ Sam's eyes flare as he looks down at the angel and speaks, **"Three minutes left."**

Castiel flinches at the words, but stays focused on the wall.

"Wait, I don't get it...Michael's dead! I'm a vessel for a dead angel! You gave me his _grace_ or whatever, but I can't even fight off Cas!" Dean says.

_Where do you think angels get their power from, Dean?_

"I have decided." Castiel announces, walking to the foot of the throne.

"Let's hear it then." says Sam, in an amused tone.

"The flaming sword of Eden and Samson's jawbone." Castiel says.

Sam gestures, and a burning broadsword and an unassuming, but large piece of curved bone appear at Castiel's feet.

Dean steps closer to Castiel and asks, _"Why do you want some dude's jawbone?"_

"It isn't _Samson's_ jawbone, it's a donkey's - Samson used it to slay a thousand men." Castiel explains as he kneels down to inspect the weapons.

"Oh." Dean coughs, "Listen, Cas, at some point we really have to talk about your battle strategies."

Castiel brightens at this, "Then - you'll come with me? I would welcome your advice. We will return to Heaven and we can-"

Dean puts up his hand, "No. I'm not going back up there. You want to talk to me - we can meet somewhere in the middle, okay? Above where we are now, and below where you're from."

Castiel pleads, "Dean, please. You could help us-"

**"Time's up."** Sam says, rising, and Castiel disappears.


	9. Go

Dean stands there for a minute or so, looking at Sam on his throne. He keeps expecting Sam to say _something_, to give some indication that he isn't just part of the ornate structure itself, but Sam remains statue-still, considering Dean with unblinking _all-seeing_ eyes.

Dean breaks their staring contest and asks, "So...you want to tell me what's going on?"

Sam doesn't respond, but continues to stare at Dean.

"Can you at least send me back to Bobby's?"

"Why?" Sam says, "You can leave anytime you want."

"Can we - could you please knock off the overlord thing for a few minutes and come down here and talk to me?" Dean jumps when Sam suddenly disappears from his throne and reappears next to him, just a few feet away.

"Let's take a walk." Sam says.

Dean lets out a shaky breath, "Not really in the mood for the tour, Sam. My memories of here aren't all that good."

"I didn't mean here." Sam's mouth twitches, "I killed them all, you know. Every demon that ever laid its hands on you. Every demon that ever taunted you. Meg's the only one left. Say the word and I'll end her too. I don't even need to touch her, or see her, or _speak_. I can kill her with a thought."

Dean swallows, "That's not the point...I didn't...I don't want to remember who I _was_ here."

"You're a legend here."

"How many of your demons are souls that _I_ helped break? Or did you kill all of them, too?" Dean says angrily.

Sam looks at the ground and then back to Dean. "We'll go somewhere else then."

Dean blinks to clear the sense of disorientation he's feeling. He looks to the left and then right, "Huh."

Sam passes Dean one of the two menus he's holding, and says "I hear their cheeseburgers are awesome."

Dean heads for the closest booth and sits. "Should I ask why this diner is completely empty?"

"It's in Wyoming, twenty miles away from the nearest town, and it's two AM." Sam studies his menu.

"Okay...and what, are we gonna go cook the food ourselves?" Dean eyes the door he suspects leads to the kitchen, and wonders if they have a deep fryer. "Why not take us to a 24-hour joint?"

"Because this way we're far less likely to accidentally kill someone. Order off the menu." Sam says.

"You know, the weird part is - I'm not even hungry. I mean, I should be, but-"

"That's because you don't need to eat anymore. Doesn't mean you _can't_ though." Sam closes his menu and takes the wrapper off his straw. He sips his ginger ale and watches Dean.

"How do you _do_ that?" Dean snaps.

Sam grins, "It's easy. I'll teach you."

"No, wait. Just- just explain to me what you were talking about earlier. Why am I the 'only weapon that matters'?" Dean closes his menu and adds, "And get me a bacon cheeseburger with waffle fries."

Sam takes a bite of his Cobb Salad as Dean stares at his enormous bacon cheeseburger with waffle fries.

Sam unscrews the lids from the salt and pepper shakers and dumps their contents onto the table top, between their two plates. "Hell and Heaven function in completely different ways, but they also have some similarities." Sam says. The pile of salt begins moving and separates itself into smaller piles.

"What, no sketchbook?" Dean asks through a mouthful of burger. He pours a generous amount of ketchup over the fries.

"This would take way too much paper." Sam nods his chin towards the salt. "Heaven has two main populations. Human souls..." Sam points at the largest pile of salt, "...and angels." Sam nods at the multiple tiny piles of salt which look suspiciously like reverse snow-angels.

Dean snorts, "That's adorable. Are we gonna build a little sandcastle next?"

Sam raises his eyebrow and points at the larger pile of salt, "Each human soul is a constant. They're at peace from the moment they enter Heaven, and remain that way for eternity. Or that's the plan, anyway."

"I didn't feel at peace up there at all." Dean says, shooting Sam a look.

"Angels are similar. They're a lot more powerful of course, but they don't change over time." Sam shifts his gaze left to the pile of pepper. The pepper spreads out over nearly half of the table as Sam continues, "In Hell, all human souls become demons eventually. The longer they're in Hell, the stronger they become."

Dean stares at the pepper, transfixed, and watches each tiny piece of pepper grow. Some of the pieces reach the size of whole peppercorns. "Ok, and all this means what, exactly?"

"Up until recently, Heaven and Hell were pretty evenly matched. Then we came along, and instead of playing our roles the way we were supposed to -" Sam raps his right fist against the tabletop lightly and several of the snow-angels disappear, "-we changed the rules." Sam looks over to the left and the peppercorns all roll towards each other.

"Sam. Could you please stop speaking in haikus?"

"Heaven is held together by faith. Everyone there- the souls, the angels - it's their faith that keeps Heaven going." Sam says.

Dean nods slowly, "Because they're all that's left...and I'm willing to bet their faith is a little shaky these days."

"Just a little."

"So...what? I'm supposed to go up there and give them a pep talk? They're still dicks." Dean says.

Sam smirks, "I only know what Lucifer and Michael told me. I'm not even sure they told me the whole truth. Though- I did learn quite a bit more when I took their grace from them. Raphael filled in some of the gaps too..." Sam smiles and Dean feels ice run down his spine. "What I do know is that Castiel is set on getting you to fight with him against the other angels. He's convinced that you're what will keep Heaven from falling."

"Oh. Is that all?" Dean asks, and leans back against the cushioned bench.

"You don't owe them anything." Sam says quietly.

"I know I don't." Dean looks at Sam and adds, "I'm not going up there. I already told Cas - if he wants to talk, he has to come down here to talk to me."

"Good to hear." Sam sighs, and stands up. "I have to get back. Call me if you need anything."

Dean, alone in the diner, in the middle of nowhere, curses loudly at no one. "How the Hell am I supposed to get back to Bobby's? There aren't even any cars in the-"

"Dean?" Bobby asks in surprise.


	10. Lawrence

"Well? Aren't you gonna say anything?" Dean asks.

Bobby wearily lifts his head up from where it was resting on his folded arms and leans back into his chair. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know!" Dean starts pacing the floor of Bobby's small kitchen. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I have _no_ idea what's going on. Sam tried to explain it, and if he's right, then Cas needs _me_ to win his war."

"Well ain't that something." Bobby mumbles.

"Yeah, it sure is something!" Dean yells and the kitchen window explodes. Dean flinches and stares at the glass shards now littering Bobby's sink.

"Don't yell at _me_, boy!" Bobby gets up and inspects the damage. "You owe me for this window, too."

Dean moves to the side as Bobby starts fishing the shards out of the sink. "Sorry Bobby, I - I should go."

"Son of a bitch." Bobby snaps, as he nicks himself on one of the shards, "It's ok Dean, it ain't your fault. Well, it is, but - you know what I mean." Bobby turns around, but Dean is gone.

* * *

><p>Dean sits behind the wheel of the Impala and for the first time in a long time doesn't feel like driving. He doesn't know where to go, for starters. He doesn't know what to do. He heads out of Bobby's salvage yard, towards the highway and drives south.<p>

An hour later, after having gone through three different tapes hoping that it was just a fluke, Dean hangs his head and accepts that he somehow shorted out the tape deck. In the past, he would've just started singing to himself until he got a chance to fix the deck. This time though, he just can't bring himself to sing.

Six hours later, in Lawrence, Kansas, Dean sits on Missouri Mosely's doorstep and waits.

* * *

><p>In his shed, Bobby finishes the Enochian summoning ritual,"Ba ba loh en, toh an tah ar bi en." He drops the last of the herbs into the bowl. A small fire consumes the herbs and burns steadily. Bobby clears his throat, "Sam? Uh...I'm not sure if this is gonna work or not, but I really hope you can hear me." Bobby inhales and then exhales slowly, "It's Dean. I haven't heard from him in almost a week. He isn't answering his cell - or any of his phones. I tried reaching Castiel, but he isn't answering either. I just wanna know he's ok, so, if you've seen him-" Bobby leans back from the flame just in time, as it flares upwards, nearly reaching the ceiling.<p>

Bobby takes a few steps back, stares at the column of flame coming out of the bowl, and hears the fire speak, _**"Who took him?"  
><strong>_  
>"I don't know. That's why I'm calling you. He left here in a hurry. It was the damnedest thing...I'm just worried 'cause I got a call from this psychic - Missouri Mosely. She said he'd been with her since Tuesday, but that he left a few hours ago and now - she says she can't feel him anymore."<p>

The fire lashes outwards and Bobby takes another step back, _**"What else do you know?"**_

* * *

><p>Three hundred eighty-six miles south of Singer Salvage Yard, in Lawrence - Missouri falls to her knees in the middle of her living room, and screams. She can't see him, but she feels him <em>everywhere<em>. He's speaking right into her mind and it feels like lightning tearing through her head.

_**Who took him?  
><strong>_  
>"Sam-" she gasps, "Sam, I'm so sorry."<p>

_**Don't be sorry. Tell me what happened.  
><strong>_  
>"I don't - I don't know! He-"<p>

_**Tell me - everything.  
><strong>__  
><em>Missouri does. She offers up her memories to Sam - every detail of the last five days.  
>Sam sees Missouri <em>embracing Dean, offering him a sad smile, and inviting him in. Dean tells her everything that's happened, and she nods but has no advice to offer. He asks her to help him. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. "You do feel like one of them, but you're still you in there, you know that, right?" she says, and Dean smiles weakly. She helps him feel like a human again - makes him mow the lawn, and take out the garbage. Dean's heart gets a tiny bit lighter every day he's there. At breakfast, earlier this morning - Dean offers to cook and Missouri lets him help with the bacon, but nothing else. Dean opens the door to pick up the newspaper. Through the open door, Missouri catches a glimpse of a man in a trench-coat. She feels Dean's anger rise sharply. Then they both disappear<em> and just like that she's alone again.

It takes more than five minutes for Missouri's heart to slow down after Sam leaves. She gets up slowly, and walks to her front door. She knows Sam is gone, but she feels an inexplicable need to look at where he was. She opens the door and sees a small smoldering circle of ash in the middle of her front lawn - what used to be her front lawn. All the grass has died. Her azaleas are husks, a few charred petals cling pathetically to what's left of the shrubs. She sees something on the lowest doorstep, and crouches down to take a closer look. She picks up the dead chickadee and carries it, with trembling hands, back inside her house.


	11. Faith Collapsing

Dean looks down at the clear, still water and asks again, "You had to bring me here to show me a _lake_?"

"It isn't a lake." Castiel huffs in frustration, "I know you can see what this is. You just aren't _looking_."

"No, no- I _am_ looking, and what I see is a damn lake." Dean says, "Seriously, you couldn't just _tell_ me about this?"

"Dean." Castiel reaches for Dean's forehead, but Dean grabs him by the wrist. All two dozen of the angels standing guard around them stare, but make no move to intervene.

Dean lets go of Castiel, "No. Just tell me what I'm really looking at, okay?"

"It may help if you -" Castiel kneels on the ground and gestures,"-if you touch the water." Castiel says.

Dean eyes him warily, "Yeah...and you _really_ want me to do that for some reason. Mind telling me why?"

Castiel swallows, and looks up to Dean, "It will help you to understand -"

"Lying to me right now is a _really_ bad idea." Dean flinches when he feels something brush against his cheek. Luckily, it's only a leaf. It's Autumn in the Garden, and it looks very different from the last time Dean was here _with Sam_ with Joshua. Surrounding the lake are a handful of large trees, their leaves a dizzying mix of red, orange and yellow. The leaves fall steadily, and Dean's feet make crunching noises as he steps further away from the lake's edge.

Castiel gets up and turns away from the water, "It's _faith_ Dean, all this- what you're seeing- your mind is putting it in terms you can understand. You've spent most of your life as a human. To you, water is life. That's what faith is to us."

Dean walks a bit closer to the water again and looks. He lets his eyes drift and lets out a quiet gasp when he finally _sees_. The lake is made of light - a brilliant, bright blue. There are seven small rivers running out from the center, reaching out as far as the horizon. Dean can feel the lake calling to him, urging him forward. It's peace, it's hope, and it's right there and if he just moves closer, then he can finally, finally stop hurting.

* * *

><p>Sam stands at the gate of Heaven and knocks.<p>

* * *

><p>Dean isn't sure how long he stares at the lake. He snaps out of his reverie when he becomes aware of an increasingly annoying melody on the outskirts of his consciousness. "Cas - what <em>is<em> that?" Dean looks down and sees that his feet are mere inches from the water's edge.

Castiel stares at him blankly, "What is _what_?"

"That, that sound - the music - it's like a whistling..." Dean stops talking and listens again for a few more seconds. "Is that somebody's idea of a joke?" Dean looks at the other angels, and snaps, "Whichever one of you is doing that - knock it off!"

"Dean-" Castiel starts.

"What? I hate that song- it's really friggin annoying!" Dean yells, then he stops and listens again, "Okay- that's a bit better."

"Dean!" Castiel says, loudly. "What are you hearing?"

"Well, first it was that annoying eighties song 'Send Me an Angel', " Dean puts his hand to his forehead and pinches the bridge of his nose, "...and now, it's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door!'" Dean spins around and looks at their audience, "None of you hear that?"

One of the angels steps forward and says, "He's at the Gate."

Dean feels his gut churn, "Who is at the gate?" He turns to Castiel, "Who's at the gate?"

Castiel nods to the soldiers on his left. "Go."

Half of the angels disappear, and the remaining dozen reposition themselves to form a smaller ring around Castiel and Dean.

"It's Sam, isn't it?" Dean asks.

Castiel doesn't answer.

"You just sent those angels out there to do what, exactly?"

"To explain to him that you are safe and will be out shortly." Castiel answers.

"You-" Dean laughs, "How is that a good plan? Sam literally _eats_ angels for breakfast."

Castiel nearly smiles as he says, "In Hell, yes, and on Earth, maybe, but here - this is _our_ home."

"So what, he's _powerless_ here?"

"No. Just not as much of a threat. Most of the angels here aren't even in vessels- and Sam can't turn them into flesh, not here." Castiel says, "Anyway, he can't get in. We're safe here. "

"Safe?" Dean repeats, "So there's no way Sam could get in? You're sure - because I've known him a long time, and I have to tell you -"

Castiel cuts him off, "The only way Sam could get through the Gate is if _we_ invite him in."

"Just, let me go see him Cas. I'll let him know I'm fine, and he'll go wait for me somewhere else." Dean pleads.

The angels around them step a bit closer, and Castiel says, "I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>Sam hears the twelve angels as they appear behind him. "Who sent you?" he asks, still facing the gate.<p>

"Dean Winchester." says the smallest of the angels, stepping closer to Sam.

Sam turns slowly, "You're lying."

The angel doesn't respond, but another one steps forward, "Forgive Rehael, he is young."

"Is he?" Sam asks in a flat tone.

"We need your help, Sam." The angel looks at Sam, his eyes filled with light and sorrow, "Castiel - he means well, but he will destroy us all."

"Harahel, no- " Rehael says.

Harahel continues, "No. This has gone on long enough."

Sam looks at the angels curiously, "What has?"

"Castiel believes that Dean can take in the power of Heaven, but - even if he's right, it will tear Heaven apart!" says Harahel. "If he disrupts the flow of the rivers, all the souls here - _all_ of them will have nothing left to hold onto. All of Heaven will crumble."

"What makes you think I'd care about that?" Sam asks.

The angel tries again, "Sam, please. Together we can stop this madness. You and Dean can leave and we'll never bother either of you again."

Sam takes a slow breath and looks at them. Here, in their home, they are shimmering things - made of light, grace and beauty. Sam wants to sink his teeth in and drink until their light dies. "I don't work with angels," he says, and turns his back on them again.

"Sam, please. We- we'll do anything you ask of us." Harahel says.

"Stop!" Rehael yells, lunging forward. Two of the other angels hold him back.

Harahel turns and yells at the smaller angel, "If we don't do this, everything ends anyway! We have no other choice!"

Sam smirks, and looks over his shoulder, "You'll do...anything I ask of you?"

"Yes. We need your help." Harahel answers.

Sam turns to face the angels and asks, "Will you give yourselves wholly to serve me, and _only_ me?"

Harahel hesitates only a moment, before answering, "_Yes._"

* * *

><p>In the Garden, Dean, Castiel and the angels around them all fall to the ground in pain. There's a deafening noise of metal creaking, and a voice echoes through the air saying, <strong>"Little pigs, little pigs, let me in. Or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your <strong>**_world_**** in."**

The noise gets louder and louder and then there's a **_crack_**.

The ground in the Garden starts to heave and tear, and Dean gets up and tries to move forward, toward one of the trees nearby. The ground breaks again and he hangs from a ledge, nothing below him but the impossibly still water of the lake. "Cas!" He yells, "Help me damnit!"

* * *

><p>All of Hell feels Sam break open Heaven's door. Every soul there rushes towards the heart of Hell, towards the throne, which shifts and changes again eagerly awaiting the return of their King.<p>

* * *

><p>As Sam walks through Heaven, he sees it start to crumble. It falls away under his feet, which drip with the blood of a dozen angels. Sam clutches a handful of feathers in his left hand and heads towards the Garden.<p>

* * *

><p>In South Dakota, Bobby Singer has just finished replacing his kitchen window. He cleans a thumbprint off of the glass and sees it starts to rain. He opens the window to get some fresh air, <em>he always did love the smell of rain<em> and watches in confusion as the glass pane slowly turns red.

* * *

><p>In Lawrence, Kansas, Missouri Mosely sits on her doorstep and says over and over, "The sky is bleeding, the sky is bleeding, the sky is <em>bleeding<em>..."

* * *

><p>Sam enters the Garden, and walks over to where Castiel sits, slumped against a tree next to a cliff. Sam runs his hand through his hair, and his fingers come away slick with angel blood. He opens his hand and lets the sticky feathers fall at Castiel's feet. Castiel doesn't move. "I owe you thirty-seven weapons. When you've decided which ones you want, send these back to me. Don't come yourself. If I ever lay eyes on you again, I'll be the last thing you ever see."<p>

Castiel whispers to himself, _"Teloch. Noib teloch. Nenni teloch."_

* * *

><p>Sam finds Dean lying in the middle of an empty lake bed. He kneels beside him, lifts his head up as gently as he can, and takes them both home.<p> 


End file.
